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<br />Comments on Salinity Control Forum <br />Proposed Report <br /> <br />tu <br />W <br />~ <br />CJ <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (here- <br /> <br />inafter Forum) deserves to be commended for the breadth of its <br /> <br />(proposed) report on salinity standards for the Colorado River. <br /> <br />The report introduces the reader to the many facets of the <br /> <br />problem of salinity control in the river basin and explains, quite <br /> <br />adequately, how various parts of the problem are related. <br /> <br />Dut more important than the breadth of the report is its <br /> <br />candor in admitting that the salinity control program can work <br /> <br />only under the most optimistic of assumptions. The admission is <br /> <br />most clearly illustrated by the situations depicted in Tables 4 <br /> <br />and 5 of the report (pages 21 and 22). ~'hese tables present the <br /> <br />projected concentrates of total dissolved solids (TDS) in milli- <br /> <br />grams per liter (mg/l) at each control point (Hoover, Parker and <br /> <br />Imperial Dams) for the years 1990 and 1995 for various combinations <br /> <br />of average annual flow, river basin development (or flow depletion) , <br /> <br />and progress of the salinity control program (as measured by num- <br /> <br />ber of projects). Ignoring fue columns without salinity control <br /> <br />projects, the remaining combinations of flow, development, and <br /> <br />program progress form a set of outcomes at each dam site which <br /> <br />spans most, if not all, future possibilities. Assuming that each <br /> <br />combination is equally likely, the probability of a violation of <br /> <br />the standard can be estimated.!1 A simple calculation shows that <br /> <br />!I The probabilities are computed by assuming that each <br />combination of flow, depletion, and project development form <br /> <br />[Footnote continued next page.] <br /> <br />21 <br />